A lens drive device which is mounted on a cell phone with a camera or a digital camera includes a fixed body, a movable body having a lens, a magnetic drive mechanism for magnetically driving the movable body in an optical axis direction of the lens, and a spring member which is connected between the fixed body and the movable body. The movable body is driven in the optical axis direction by utilizing a thrust force of the magnetic drive mechanism and an urging force of the spring member.
In the lens drive device, when the movable body is largely shifted in the optical axis direction (thrust direction) or in the radial direction due to an impact from outside, the spring member may be largely deformed and plastic deformation or the like may occur in the spring member.
In order to prevent this problem, a thrust direction stopper mechanism is structured between the movable body and the fixed body so that a moving range toward an object to be photographed side of the movable body is restricted by abutting of a thrust movement preventing abutting part of the movable body with a thrust movement preventing abutted part of the fixed body, and a radial direction stopper mechanism is structured between the movable body and the fixed body so that a moving range in a radial direction of the movable body is restricted by abutting of a radial movement preventing abutting part of the movable body with a radial movement preventing abutted part of the fixed body (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-94235).
In the lens drive device, an impact from outside causes the movable body to displace in an obliquely inclined direction in addition to displacements in the thrust direction and the radial direction and, in some cases, the movable body may occur in the combined displacements.
However, in the conventional lens drive device, displacement in the radial direction under an obliquely inclined state of the movable body is not taken into consideration and thus the spring member may be largely deformed to incur plastic deformation. Further, when the movable body is shifted in the radial direction under an obliquely inclined state, an object side end part of the movable body may be caught by a light transmission opening formed in the top plate part to cause the movable body to be unable to return to its original state.